ArticleAddiction (Abingdon, England)2024
Do medications increase the efficacy of digital interventions for smoking cessation? Secondary results from the iCanQuit randomized trial.
Article in Addiction (Abingdon, England), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Barriers and Facilitators of Tobacco Cessation Interventions at the Population and Healthcare System Levels: A Systematic Literature Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Pooled it
- Understanding the mechanisms of change in social norms around tobacco use: A systematic review and meta-analysis of interventions.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Evaluating the Impact of Pharmacotherapy in Augmenting Quit Rates Among Hispanic Adults in an App-Delivered Smoking Cessation Intervention: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR formative research · 2025Trial
- Can an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-Based Smartphone App Help Individuals with Mental Health Disorders Quit Smoking?Depression and anxiety · 2024Trial
- Constructing Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs) to Inform Tobacco Cessation Intervention Research: A Methodological Extension Using Evidence Synthesis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsiCanQuit is a smartphone application (app) proven efficacious for smoking cessation in a Phase III randomized controlled trial (RCT). This study aimed to measure whether medications approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for smoking cessation would further enhance the efficacy of iCanQuit, relative to its parent trial comparator-the National Cancer Institute's (NCI's) QuitGuide app.
designSecondary analysis of the entire parent trial sample of a two-group (iCanQuit and QuitGuide), stratified, doubled-blind RCT.
settingUnited States.
participantsParticipants who reported using an FDA-approved cessation medication on their own (n = 619) and those who reported no use of cessation medications (n = 1469).
interventionsParticipants were randomized to receive iCanQuit app or NCI's QuitGuide app. MEASUREMENTS: Use of FDA-approved medications was measured at 3 months post-randomization. Smoking cessation outcomes were measured at 3, 6 and 12 months. The primary outcome was 12-month self-reported 30-day point prevalence abstinence (PPA).
findingsThe data retention rate at the 12-month follow-up was 94.0%. Participants were aged 38.5 years, 71.0% female, 36.6% minority race/ethnicity, 40.6% high school or less education, residing in all 50 US States and smoking 19.2 cigarettes/day. The 29.6% of all participants who used medications were more likely to choose nicotine replacement therapy (NRT; 78.8%) than other cessation medications (i.e. varenicline or bupropion; 18.3 and 10.5%, respectively) and use did not differ by app treatment assignment (all P > 0.05). There was a significant (P = 0.049) interaction between medication use and app treatment assignment on PPA. Specifically, 12-month quit rates were 34% for iCanQuit versus 20% for QuitGuide [odds ratio (OR) = 2.36, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.59, 3.49] among participants reporting any medication use, whereas among participants reporting no medication use, quit rates were 28% for iCanQuit versus 22% for QuitGuide (OR = 1.41, 95% CI = 1.09, 1.82). Results were stronger for those using only NRT: 40% quit rates for iCanQuit versus 18% quit rates for QuitGuide (OR = 3.57, 95% CI = 2.20, 5.79).
conclusionsThe iCanQuit smartphone app for smoking cessation was more efficacious than the QuitGuide smartphone app, regardless of whether participants used medications to aid cessation. Smoking cessation medications, especially nicotine replacement therapy, might enhance the efficacy of the iCanQuit app.
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